CSR Initiatives

Leveraging the potential of paint

Paint makes exteriors colorful and provides protection, thermal insulation, and other functions. Today’s market demands functional and colorful paints and has a higher awareness of environmental impacts. This shows how high the expectations are for the paints that affect our lives.

We are professionals with specialized knowledge and skills in coating films. Since our foundation in 1958, Musashi Paint has developed from specialists in wood coating to specialists in plastic coating. We have led the industry in colors and technology. Our lineup of over 100,000 paint products are used in many fields for many different purposes, such as car interiors, communications devices, optical appliances, and electronics. We have received outstanding recognition from customers around the world.

At Musashi Paint, we always have our customers in mind, envisage wonderful product concepts, and develop original products. These are great qualities that we all share Musashi Paint. Though we face challenges and technical difficulties when creating new products, we overcome these obstacles and offer our customers excitement through our products and services.

The infinite possibilities of colors and technology have provided new opportunities for paints. Our corporate purpose of “Enriching the World with Our Colors and Technology” embodies our wish to brightly paint the path to our company’s future. We can enrich the world by addressing complex societal issues. At Musashi Paint, we are committed to leveraging our unique capabilities and strengths, contributing to resolving societal issues, and enhancing our corporate value.

Resolving societal issues through our business

In 2006, I was sent to a subsidiary in regional China. During my stay, I witnessed people suffering from poverty, human rights issues, and insufficient waste treatment. I was shocked by what was going on right before my eyes. I joined an NPO engaged in eliminating child prostitution in Asia immediately after I returned to Japan. As part of this NPO’s activities, I have visited orphanages outside Japan. This experience was the first step for our group to start engaging in social activities. Poverty and human rights issues are high-priority issues, as expressed in the SDGs. I have given much thought on environmental issues such as the illegal disposal of chemicals. I recognize the importance of conducting business while fostering a healthy natural environment.

Building new sites, creating job opportunities, and providing education are ways we can contribute to society through our business. Paints are products that are in need everywhere and are widely used in any community. The manufacture and sales of our products can drive local communities to build their own ecosystem. The Musashi Paint Group currently has sites in 11 countries in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. We plan to establish more sites in other regions to create job opportunities and revitalize local communities.

Taking on challenges to make our society better

For the success of merchandise development and production, it is important to pursue profitability and to foster a manufacturing culture where we always respect our counterparts and employees. It is important to work with our colleagues to take on challenges with faith that we can develop even better merchandises. We will never stop developing as long as the passion of our development team continues to burn.

One success case study is the development of our Bio Paint. Since 2008, we have been collaborating with a customer in Europe to develop a product that uses plant-based renewable resources. The market is aware of the development of environmentally-friendly paints using materials such as biomass as a solution for a sustainable society. Our plant-based Bio Paint has attracted a great deal of attention. Bio Paint reduces dependence on fuel resources. Creating and commercializing this merchandise was not easy, but we succeeded thanks to the burning passion of our development team.

Enjoying work for sustainability

It is difficult in maintaining your motivation to continue problem-solving activities. What can you do to stay motivated?

I always tell our employees to “enjoy doing what’s right.” You can’t keep on engaging if you don’t enjoy what you are doing. Feelings of joy rise from praising yourself for doing such activities. When you love what you are doing, then you will be able to enjoy your work, which is on the same path of what you love to do. Then you’ll love the people you work with and your customers. Since its foundation, the staff at Musashi Paint have always had love and respect for themselves, their colleagues, their customers, their company, and their society. That is why we are capable of creating unique merchandises that contribute to society. And we’ll continue to do so. I think this is what sustainability is all about.

The goal of our sustainable management is to be driven by loving what you do and never giving up until you succeed. You may fail at something, even though you took on the challenge of doing something you love to do. But if you don’t give up and see it through to the end, you’ll end up loving yourself, your company, and your customers even more. This cycle will serve as the backbone for sustainable management.

Connecting with others and co-creating businesses for enriching the world

Musashi Paint is skilled in bringing out the colors and technologies of paints. Our merchandises are manufactured and sold around the world, praised by manufacturers, and are used in goods such as electronics, cars, and gaming gear. We have the best technical skills in the industry, but there are still many people who are not familiar with Musashi Paint. We will be able to contribute more to society if we become more well-known. Developing outstanding products is not the same as creating attractive ones. The key point in increasing our company’s recognition are the unique features we can add to our products. Creating that uniqueness is the reason we do business and is a critical factor in developing solutions to societal issues.

“Doing the right thing,” such as creating a recycling-oriented society, a decarbonized society, or poverty- and discrimination-free society requires a lot of time and energy. The first step to a sustainable management is to enjoy the process of addressing these issues. Identifying and resolving issues to enrich the world with our colors and technology requires cross-organizational collaboration. Co-creation with external organizations is also important. We cannot create drastic changes to society on our own.

The Musashi Paint Group will pursue sustainability by making full use of our global network, collaborating with other manufacturers, continuing to create new value, and becoming a company that will be loved by future generations. Once determined, we will see it through to the end. That is our style. We are determined to achieve our goals with smiles on our faces, joy in our hearts, and a commitment to our society.